By Rosie Wilson
The plans have been drawn up by the Royal College of Surgeons, and will impose stricter standards on practitioners working in the private sector.
Surgeons will have to prove they meet new standards of training to be certified, and the information will be provided on a register. The register will then be available to employers and patients, in order to increase transparency and allow them to make an informed decision.
To obtain certification, surgeons will have to be on the General Medical Council’s specialist register in the area of training that covers the operations they wish to perform. Certification will only allow them to undertake surgery in their specialism. They will also need to prove their professional skills, evidence of their surgical results and that they have undertaken a minimum number of procedures within the relevant part of the body.
Mr. Stephen Cannon, Chair of the Cosmetic Surgery Interspeciality Committee (CSIC) and Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “We are determined to ensure there are the same rigorous standards for patients undergoing cosmetic surgery in the UK as other types of surgery.”
“This consultation provides the next step in establishing clear and high standards for training and practice so that all surgeons in the UK are certified to the same level, irrespective of where they trained.”
The consultation is open until 6 March 2015.